The Colorado General Assembly’s 120-day legislative session is often complicated and, at times, chaotic, with hundreds of bills introduced, long hours of debate, and behind-the-scenes politics. But each year, a handful of broader themes emerge that define the session.
The Colorado Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between The Colorado Sun, Colorado Public Radio, and KUNC, sifted through what happened at the Capitol this year.
Here’s what we found.
Takeaway No.1: On some big policy priorities, Democrats could not agree
At the beginning of the session, Democrats set out to pass ambitious policy related to data centers, immigration officer accountability and price gouging. On these and other issues, bill sponsors faced enough opposition from members of their own party to kill their proposals. In other cases, like increasing the overtime pay threshold for farmworkers, enough Democrats voted with Republicans to pass legislation despite opposition from members of their party.
The splits highlight the tension within Colorado’s Democratic Party.
At times over the last year, that tension has centered around the Opportunity Caucus, which is made up of more moderate members of the General Assembly. More liberal members of the legislature have been feuding with the group behind the scenes over concerns about their fundraising and influence. Those tensions came into public view over a bill attempting to force nonprofit caucuses at the Capitol, like the Opportunity Caucus, to reveal their donors and spending. As nonprofits, they don't have to do that right now. The bill seemed like a unifying moment, sponsored by members of the caucus and members of the party’s more liberal faction, but it ultimately fell apart and nothing passed.
- Data centers: Dueling data center bills — one that would have offered tax incentives to tech companies led by Rep. Alex Valdez, D-Denver, and one that would have created strict environmental protections led by Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins — both died after interest groups could not come to a consensus following months of negotiations.
- Police and immigration: A bill that would have required local police officers to intervene when federal immigration agents use excessive force died in committee when two Democrats, Rep. Chad Clifford of Centennial and Rep. Cecelia Espenoza of Denver, joined Republicans to reject it.
- Captive audience pricing: Three Democrats — Clifford, Espenoza and Rep. Michael Carter of Aurora — joined Republicans to kill a bill intended to prevent businesses from charging high prices in so-called captive audience settings in Colorado — like airports, hospitals and stadiums — after it faced opposition from businesses.
- Ag overtime: A bill raising the overtime pay threshold for Colorado farmworkers from as low as 48 hours per week to 56 hours per week passed after seven state senators and 11 representatives joined all Republicans to vote for the measure.
Takeaway No. 2: Incremental progress for Democrats
Overall, Democrats went into this year’s session less ambitious in their policy proposals than they have been in recent years. They were constrained by yet another budget deficit that left little money available for new policies and programs. Disagreements with the governor and division within their own party made passing some progressive policies more difficult.The caucus was able to pass a few big-ticket items, however. A bill to bring down the cost of homeowners' insurance by subsidizing hail-resistant roofs — a major priority for the caucus and House Speaker Julie McCluskie — was passed in the final days of the session. Democrats were also able to refer a measure to the November ballot that, if approved by voters, would use TABOR refund money for education funding, and they passed several bills that built on past years’ work around housing and gun regulations.
Despite those victories, Democrats made mostly incremental progress on some of their other major priorities this year:
- Affordability: Democrats launched a slate of bills earlier in the session intended to bring down Colorado’s cost of living, including several to crack down on price gouging. Only one of the major price-gouging bills succeeded and is awaiting the governor’s signature. The measure would prohibit companies from using people’s online activity to set prices and wages. Other bills failed, including one to prevent high prices in places where consumers have limited options, like stadiums and airports.
- Worker protections: Democrats passed a key pro-union bill that would have made it easier for unions in Colorado to fully organize, but Gov. Jared Polis is expected to veto it after he vetoed the same measure last year. A bill that would have added protections for workers against extreme temperatures failed to clear the legislature. Democrats did pass one measure that will force meatpacking companies to cover safety equipment and give workers bathroom breaks.
- Countering ballot measures: Democrats referred one measure to the ballot intended to counter the impacts of a proposed November ballot initiative that, if approved by voters, would direct the state to spend more money on maintaining roads and highways. Democrats argue it would take funding away from core services like education and healthcare as the state faces repeated budget deficits. They also failed to pass a measure to counter another ballot initiative designed to protect consumers’ access to natural gas.
- Tax credits: A pair of bills that would have rolled back tax breaks for businesses failed in the final days of the session. Backers said they abandoned the efforts because of veto threats from Polis.
Takeaway No. 3: A spoonful of bipartisanship helps the medicine go down
Democrats and Republicans are known to exchange barbs across the aisle and generally annoy the heck out of each other, but they still have the power to jump into a cooperative mode when policy priorities call for it. This year’s big bipartisan pushes covered a broad slate of issues from agriculture and business to sticking it to Polis. Here are a few of the highlights.
- Competency: One of the highest-profile bills to unite the two parties this year took aim at a troubling void at the intersection of criminal justice and behavioral health. Current Colorado law requires criminal charges to be dropped when defendants are found incompetent to stand trial and unlikely to be restored to competency. The proposal ensures that defendants deemed dangerous to the public are civilly committed and get treatment instead of being released. High-ranking members of both parties came together to sponsor and pass the bill.
- The Tamale Act: A proposal to let home cooks sell more food out of their kitchens enjoyed broad bipartisan support in both chambers. It creates a legal pathway for people to start home businesses selling tamales, burritos, sauerkraut, sausage and other foods that require refrigeration. While public health officials had some hesitations, the bill had something for lawmakers of all political stripes. Conservatives liked its potential to expand economic opportunity. Democrats viewed it as a leg up for immigrant communities, where small homemade food businesses — think “tamale ladies” — are common. Meanwhile, Libertarians were drawn to advancing the Food Freedom movement, which is organized around eliminating government interference with small food entrepreneurs. The bill passed easily and has been championed as one of Polis’ priorities.
- Lobbyist regulations: Both sides of the aisle came together somewhat gleefully to take Polis down a notch with a bill to treat some of his staff more like other lobbyists. Nearly every single lawmaker in both chambers voted in favor of a proposal to require the governor’s legislative liaisons — state employees whose job is to influence legislation — to publicly disclose their legislative positions and follow the same transparency rules as any outside lobbyist. Sponsors said the measure was prompted by Polis’ “unprecedented level of involvement” in the legislature. A spokesperson for Polis called it an “absurd” attempt to block his administration from crafting policy. The overwhelming bipartisan votes would have been enough to overturn the expected gubernatorial veto, had it come before the end of the legislative session. When asked why they declined to fast-track the bill, which could have allowed time to overturn a veto, Speaker Julie McCluskie and House Majority Leader Monica Duran — the only state representatives to vote against the bill — hedged.
Takeaway No. 4: The big budget crunch loomed over policy decisions
Nobody was thrilled about the final draft of the Colorado state budget for the 2026-’27 fiscal year, which had to address a $1.5 billion shortfall. Lawmakers on the powerful Joint Budget Committee (JBC), the bipartisan group of lawmakers tasked with hammering out a budget each year, were forced to make painful cuts to Medicaid and other key programs to pay for existing state spending and balance the budget.
And the lack of funds spilled over into new policymaking, too. At the state Capitol this year, conventional wisdom strongly suggested that adding to the state budget would surely doom a bill, sending lawmakers scrambling to pare down the costs associated with their proposed legislation.
Some ambitious proposals were cut off at the knees in order to make it over the finish line. Other bills were written to avoid a fiscal note — the cost analysis nonpartisan legislative staff puts together — from the get-go. And some legislation was designed specifically to address certain areas contributing to the state’s structural budget deficit.
- Extreme heat: Early in the legislative session, progressive Democrats unveiled an ambitious proposal to create the state’s first slate of protections for workers in extreme temperatures. Nonpartisan legislative staff estimated it would cost more than $5 million a year to administer, a non-starter in this tight budget environment. To shrink that fiscal note, sponsors stripped it of its most significant measures. The version that finally passed is limited to collecting data about temperature-related injuries that could be used to inform future regulations.
- Sports betting: This measure would create new restrictions on online sports betting. An early version of the bill included a proposed ban on proposition bets — wagers on things like individual player performance — but lawmakers removed that provision over concerns about its high fiscal impact during a difficult budget year. The bill that ultimately passed limits some of the excesses of online sports betting platforms, but leaves the industry largely intact.
- Prison population: With a growing — and aging — inmate population, Colorado’s prison system is getting more expensive. But legislators who balked at approving a $69 million increase to the corrections budget for the coming fiscal year, were warned that if they want to rein in prison costs, they need to start passing bills to reduce the prison population. They did just that this year, with bills aimed at boosting early release programs and getting more inmates in front of parole boards. It’s not clear how effective those measures will be at reducing prison populations, should the governor sign them.
Takeaway No. 5: Colorado Responds to the Trump administration
The Trump administration continues to take aim at Colorado, and state leaders made a push this legislative session to try to insulate the blue state. Many of Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers came into this legislative session determined to push back against Trump administration policies from immigration and vaccines to LGBTQ issues. On immigration they were particularly aggressive, introducing proposals to ban state and local law enforcement from concealing their identity in most situations and to allow Coloradans to sue federal immigration agents who violate their rights. But Democrats struggled to get all caucus members on board, and the anti-Trump platform saw mixed results.
- Immigration protections: One of the first actions progressive Democrats took this year was to respond to federal immigration agents' aggressive tactics under the Trump administration. Although their original proposals were rolled back significantly, state lawmakers saw some success. One bill they passed, if signed into law by the governor, would allow Colorado residents to sue federal immigration officers in state court over alleged constitutional rights violations. Supporters say it's necessary because current laws don’t include a way to challenge conduct by federal officials, including authorities like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Another bill would require regular health inspections for detention facilities and new training for Colorado police officers. But a provision that would have made public any immigration subpoenas sent to the state was removed at the behest of Polis. And a measure was rejected in its first committee hearing that would have required state and local police to intervene when immigration agents use excessive force. It would have also prohibited law enforcement officers from shielding their identities.
- Elections policy: Democrats passed a major elections bill to curb the influence of potential federal election interference, give voters more time to ponder their ballots and update the state’s definition of disaster to include an election emergency. Colorado county clerks in both political parties have consistently pushed back against President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and that there is massive fraud with mail-in voting. Recently, Trump pressed Congress to set up limits to mail-in voting, without any legislative success.
- Vaccines: A bill to expand vaccine access in Colorado was Democratic state lawmakers’ answer to the Trump administration’s recent changes to immunization policy. Colorado has long linked state vaccine policy to federal recommendations, which was never an issue until January, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending certain previously routine childhood vaccines. The legislation, which got the governor’s signature in March, restored the more comprehensive vaccine schedule at the state level.
- Conversion therapy: Democrats responded directly to the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court this year, specifically to its ruling in March against Colorado's 2019 conversion therapy ban. The justices sided with a Christian counsellor from Colorado Springs who argued the ban violated her free speech rights. In response, Democrats passed a bill to make conversion therapy illegal through a different legal means: The practice would be considered harmful professional conduct. The measure would allow Coloradans who undergo conversion therapy to sue their mental health providers for damages with no statute of limitations. The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature.
Takeaway No. 6: How has Polis’s agenda fared in his last session
It was Polis’s final legislative session because of term limits, and some members of his party appeared more emboldened to push back against the lame-duck governor and an administration that has consistently taken a hands-on approach to policymaking.
Even though some of his top priorities crossed the finish line, his final session may be remembered for something that didn’t have anything to do with the session — his decision to commute the sentence of former Mesa county clerk Tina Peters, just two days after lawmakers adjourned. The move may go down as the most controversial act of Polis’ administration and was roundly criticized by Democrats and other Colorado officials calling the decision everything from disgraceful to undemocratic to reckless, indefensible and outrageous.
But when it comes to actual policy during the four-months-long session, some of Polis’ longstanding goals did come to fruition.
- AI anti-discrimination disclosure: Colorado faced an impasse ever since 2024 when Colorado passed and Polis signed Senate Bill 205, the country’s most sweeping AI discrimination law. AI deployers, businesses and governments, and consumer rights groups could never agree on core parts of the bill before it was scheduled to go into effect this summer. Polis convened a working group last year that eventually agreed to a compromise bill that overwhelmingly cleared the legislature. It gives individuals more information when AI systems are used to make consequential decisions about their lives after an adverse decision. It also provides ways to appeal for a human review and to correct information, but it does less on the front end to try to prevent discrimination in those systems. Polis has already signed Senate Bill 189 into law and hailed it as a victory for consumers while preserving innovation.
- Facilitating more hail-resistant roofs in an effort to lower homeowner insurance premiums: Senate Bill 155 was a top priority for Polis to require the state to collect a fee from insurance companies that would go into an enterprise fund. A state board would then distribute grants to help people purchase hail-resistant roofs, which are more expensive than traditional shingles. Hail is the largest driver of homeowner insurance rates in Colorado in every part of the state, which has some of the highest rates in the country.
- Issues Polis did not have to weigh in on publicly: Polis was able to sidestep some politically divisive issues due to the fact that his party's ambitious plans on things like data center regulations and reining in ICE did not pass the legislature. Democrats also quickly defeated a bill to legalize prostitution.
